I’ll have my AP ballot posted Monday and detailed looks at the Pac-12, WCC and Bay Area teams in the middle of the week …

Action: Pac-12 basketball takes another hit (or two).Reaction I: UCLA’s loss to St. John’s, even though it was on the road by three points, didn’t help the conference. In fact, it only makes things worse when your highest-profile program — which the Bruins always have been and always will be — loses in the media capital of the world to a St. John’s team that was tied for 13th in the Big East.Reaction II: Meanwhile, in Seattle, the Huskies outlasted Arizona behind first-rate performances by Tony Wroten and Terrence Ross (47 combined points). But if the goal is multiple NCAA bids, that was not the right result for the conference. Arizona had a better chance of sneaking into the field as an at-large.Reaction III: Here’s why, in a snapshot: The Huskies have two terrible losses (by 19 at home to South Dakota State and by 25 at Oregon earlier this month); they have a 4-6 record away from home; and they have zero wins against RPI top-50 teams. Arizona’s profile, at least, is devoid of terrible losses and includes a top-50 road win (Cal).

Reaction IV: While there remains a reasonable chance of the Pac-12 sending just one team to the NCAAs — oh, the humiliation — my guess is that two will make it. The path to three bids (not out of the question) probably requires Cal to win its final three games and reach the semifinals of the league tournament, with someone other than Cal beating Washington in the finals (assuming the Huskies don’t lose between now and then).

Action: Saint Mary’s falls at Murray State, its third loss in the past four games (all by double digits).Reaction I: The Gaels, who played a soft schedule and lack a signature non-conference win, continue their slide onto the NCAA bubble. One loss this coming week — they visit Portland and USF — combined with a loss in either the quarters or semis of the WCC tournament will make for an anxious Selection Sunday.Reaction II: Examining SMC’s resume, I can’t help but wonder if the decision to play Eastern Washington, and North Carolina A&T, and Bethune Cookman, and Jackson State, and Kennesaw State — all RPI 201+ teams, all in Moraga and constituting almost half of the Gaels’ non-conference games — will be problematic in the committee room. Whether that turns out to be the case depends on how the Gaels perform in the next two weeks and their competition for the at-large pool. Teams are not evaluated on a relative basis. Perhaps SMC’s competition will have a bevy of 201+ wins, as well.
Reaction III: Further complicating matters for SMC is the status of guard Stephen Holt. If it appears that he won’t play in the NCAAs because of a partial MCL tear, the committee will closely examine how the Gaels fared without him. In the interest of putting the best product on the court possible, it assesses teams based on the personnel that will take the court in the tournament.

Action: Santa Clara his suspends Kevin Foster for the remainder of the season after his arrest (Jan. 22) for suspicion of DUI and the district attorney’s subsequent decision to file misdemeanor charges.Reaction I: Harsh.Reaction II: REALLY harsh.Reaction III: If you’ve ever wondered why Santa Clara doesn’t compete for the West Coast Conference championship, here’s an example — another example. (The school also has the most stringent admissions standards for basketball players in the WCC, according to several coaches in the league.)Reaction IV: The intent here is not to be critical but pragmatic. The university has its priorities, and clearly basketball isn’t one of them. That’s certainly its prerogative, but don’t expect the Broncos to ever compete with Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s on an annual basis. You can’t have it both ways. To win consistently in either football or basketball requires all arms of the university working in unison, as Stanford — to cite a Bay Area example — has done with its football program in recent years.Reaction V: This is not to excuse Santa Clara’s performance this season. In no way, shape or form should Kerry Keating’s team be 0-14 in league play (with 12 double-digit losses). But we’re talking about a bigger-picture issue here: Until SCU makes that campus-wide commitment to men’s basketball, the Broncos won’t consistently finish in the top half of the WCC.

Action: WAC commissioner Karl Benson announces he’s stepping down to take the same post with the Sun Belt this spring.Reaction I: After 18 years on the job, he bolts for a competitor during a difficult time for the WAC. You’re probably thinking he’s disloyal, that he has no confidence in the future of the conference …Reaction II: I’m not so sure that’s true. According to a source, the 60-year-old Benson asked the WAC presidents last year for a four-year contract extension that would take him into retirement. The presidents, in their infinite idiocy, said no — they blame Benson for the defections of Boise State, Hawaii, Nevada and Fresno State (to a richer, more prestigious league). Stung, and seeking job security, Benson fled to the Sun Belt when the opportunity arose.Reaction III: Rejecting Benson’s request for a contract extension was a monumental mistake by an inexperienced, ignorant group of presidents. Benson has shown time and again that he’s a meatball surgeon, able to reconstitute the WAC despite all the turnover in his two decades. The league needs him now more than ever.

Jon Wilner

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Regardless of the harshness of Foster’s punishment, it doesn’t change the fact that Foster screwed over his team by committing an extremely irresponsible act, especially after the team lost its leading rebounder, Trasolini, to a pre-season injury. Keating should go at the end of the season, except SCU signed him to an extension after a 20+ win season last year, so money might keep him around another year where everyone (except one senior walk-on) is expected to be back.

milo

No mention of USF taking down Gonzaga?

p.s. the Jesuits at SCU know better…1-2 game suspension is about right unless he had previous run-ins.

http://thewisdomcow.blogspot.com/ The Wisdom Cow

Yeah, UCLA has the highest PROFILE, but that is in appearance. A layman, a random Big East fan, or ESPN analyst, or apparently JW, would think, “UCLA lost to 13th place SJ, the Pac 12 must be worse than I thought.”

Yet, a person that actually tries to compare relative strengths of programs and conferences would also have bothered to note (along with being on the other side of the country) that UCLA was tied for 6th in the Pac 12, actually in 7th as they lost to the Stanfurd team they are tied with.

So, the 7th place team in a 12 team conference travelled across the country to play St Johns, losing by 3. SJ, tied for 11th in the Big East with three other teams, has only lost to one of them (in OT), yet to play the other two. Not exactly a loss that hurts the few teams still hoping for an at-large bid. Yes, a win would have been better, but the 3 point loss, IMO, still works in the top Pac 12 teams’ favor, however slightly.

David in Salt Lake City

Benson leaving the WAC? Let’s see which 2 schools he goes after for Sun-Belt membership (Texas State & UT/San Antonio or Louisiana Tech) and who gets hung out to dry in a league that will now likely implode and no longer exist in a couple of years.

Kevin

Yes, Jon, we know the Pac 12 is having a rough year but thank you for being there to remind us with just about every post to your blog. It’s getting exhausting for your readers.

OT

Benson will have to perform meatball surgery yet again.

North Texas is as good as gone from the Sun Belt. Not only does North Texas NOT want anything to do with Benson, North Texas has a legitimate shot at getting into Mount USA (ahead of Louisiana Tech) as replacement for SMU.

Florida International is also on its way out of the Sun Belt. Mount USA is looking at FIU as replacement for Central Florida.

Texas-San Antonio is more likely to jump to Mount USA than to the Sun Belt. Mount USA needs another big school in Texas to replace Houston.

OT

Let’s see whether Benson will be able to convince Georgia State to make the jump from FCS into the Sun Belt.

Georgia State would have been a target of Mount USA if Georgia State were already in the FBS instead of FCS.

==

Mount USA is targeting the following schools:

Temple
UMASS
Florida International
North Texas
Texas-San Antonio

All 5 are public schools with large enrollments and are in large TV markets (with the exception of UMASS, which will play its home games 2 hours from campus at an NFL stadium.)

OT

USF is likely headed for the CIT again. Another year of experience for a young team will be good.

Watch out for USF next season, assuming no injuries or suspensions.

Can’t believe the wheels have fallen off Santa Clara after winning the CIT last season even with Trasolini hurt. Santa Clara has no business going 0-for-2012.

==

Are we watching a replay of 2009 for St. Mary’s? Granted that Stephen Holt is no Patrick Mills, but…

Kevin

If you want to continue to make excuses for Santa Clara’s failure to compete, fine. But high admission standards aren’t the problem. Please give Kerry Keating a 5-year contract extension.

Sincerely,

Gonzaga University Alumnus

Chris Mackey

Couple of thoughts:

Gonzaga is terrible and I’m a huge fan of theirs and of UW.

What did Karl Benson do for 16 years besides bottom feed? He and pac-12 Hansen got to go to cool meetings and collect a great paycheck for most of their tenure. Sure they had to work the last 2 years as things got crazy, but really unremarkable tenure otherwise.

PotreroSF

I’m concerned about what will happen to SJSU if the Sunbelt takes a WAC member. March Madness automatic qualification requires five teams compete for five years. If LA Tech goes, then the WAC is no longer an automatic qualifier conference for basketball.

The best option for SJSU is to bring olympic sports back to the Big West when SDSU rejoins. 11 is kind of awkward for a conference and there are no Bay Area teams in the Big West competing against UCs and CSUs from other parts of the state.

Even if the WAC survives, I don’t think it’s going to be a good conference for Olympic sports from 2012 on.

http://thewisdomcow.blogspot.com/ The Wisdom Cow

Big win for Stanfurd tonight. I love seeing Oregon lose.

Screw Nike. Wear Vibrams!

Nor-Cal Scott

@Chris Mackay stole my thunder. Honestly, Benson had to do a helluva lot more work than Hansen did over the years due to school turnover within the conference, schools dropping sports due to budgets, etc. But I do not blame him one bit. Any college sports fan knew Boise State had to leave the WAC at some point, and with the recent craziness of realignment the other schools “moving up” a conference to the Mtn West makes sense. Going to the Sun Belt is like going into retirement anyway, snooooooooze.

OT

@Cow:

Oregon beat Stanford on Sunday afternoon: 68-64.

Stanford’s only post-season option appears to be buying a CBI 1st round home game during final exam week. Not likely to happen.

Tom McNamara

California, Washington, and Arizona are going to get bids, as long as one of them wins the Conference Tournament.

And at least one of them will be higher than a #7 seed.

However, if someone else wins the “Pacific Life Pac 12 Tournament”… then it could result in a two bid result and by no means is it clear who would get the at large bid…..

StanFan

Stanford will never get to any post season tournament as long as Johnny (Duh!) Dawkins is coaching. No improvement by talented players leads to a poor season once again. Do the Stanford players ever practice free throws? A Junior High School team could do better at the line. Does (Duh!) Dawkins even know that their free throw shooting is making it so much harder to win? Can he read and understand statistics?
Oh well, Cal fans should thank their lucky stars that Mike Montgomery is their coach. The difference between Mike and Duh is so obvious. But don’t worry Pac 12 Dawkins will be around for another 2 to 3 years and Stanford Basketball will sink even lower.

OT

Cal really got lucky with Mont’y. The Stanford job opened up a few weeks after Mont’y signed on to coach Cal (recall that Bowlsby was playing chicken with Trent Johnson when Mont’y was available.)

As long as Stanford continues to shoot less than 70% from the line, and as long as Stanford does not have any beef in the low post, Stanford will continue to struggle. Stanford teams succeed with brute strength because Stanford will never be able to land the tallest and fastest players (due to academic qualifications.)

SpartanFoolball

Benson, he’s a meatball surgeon… Yikes! I guess it is better to be lucky than good. His only claim to fame is Boise State. He was a factor in the breakup of the WAC in 1999. No real vision.

Rick

AZ won’t make the field????????????

Mephistopheles

While it would have been very interesting if both Cal and Stanford’s jobs were open at the same time, I don’t know if Montgomery would have taken the Stanford job had he been unemployed at the time. It would have looked like Stanford forced Trent Johnson out so Monty could return.

I’m not sure a classy guy like Mike steps into that kind of situation, even if that wasn’t actually what would have happened. Of course, in that situation, I’m not sure if he could take the Cal job either, for obvious reasons.

milo

Sometimes I feel sorry for you Stanfurd Trees on Dawkins but then I remember Cal has Monty and laugh uncontrollably just because I can.

p.s. don’t forget, Monty’s parents met at UCLA. He’s not a Furder by blood but more a UC guy.

Calfan

Benson was actually ahead of the curve in some respects. Problem is he swung and missed badly. First one to take a conference to 16 with good programs. Gets stabbed in the back by his own and is left with a weakened WAC. Then tried and steal BYU and Boise back, and got stabbed in the back again. If he had only truly convinced his own schools of his vision, the WAC may have been a BCS conference by now.

PS: Cal is looking good, but it only goes seven deep. Same problem for years now. Where are our good recruits?

Matt “MT” Hamilton

So that’s what happened with Benson.
Thanks for that information, Jon.
You’re right. Benson had a knack for taking a hit and coming back standing up on his feet as WAC commissioner. He’s a survivor and a cobbler of conferences. But this is also an opportunity to hire someone who can move the conference ahead with a different vision. You know the Silicon Valley creed: every problem is an opportunity.
It’s all about getting the right leader. San Jose State football was in the dumper until Tom Bowen came on board as our AD.
I used to be on pins and needles, hoping that San Jose would get into the Mountain West. Now I don’t really care.
I’m sure there’s some football conference affiliation benefits I’m missing besides ease of scheduling and some financial benefits to be in the WAC or MWC for football, but you get six wins these days you’re going to a bowl game.
And if you beat some of the big boys on our schedule (Stanford, BYU, Navy), that bowl invite gets even juicier.
The most important thing at SJSU is that Coach Mac is building something big. When our recruiting classes are rated better that Fresno State, Hawaii and Nevada, you know that things are turning around in big way. The Bill Walsh football center wouldn’t be in the making if our football team wasn’t on an upward cycle.
WAC, Mountain West or even independent (I could see a lot of ways that would work), I’ll cite a bay area legend when I say, “Just win, baby.”
Go Spartans.

StanfordMatt

I love that Bear fans are so giddy about having Monty leading their program when the fact of the matter is that Cal’s version of Monty will never come even close to approaching Stanford’s version of Monty.

During Monty’s tenure on the Farm, Stanford enjoyed a Final 4, 2 Elite 8′s, 3 30-win seasons, several conference championships and extended stretches as the #1 team in the country. Meanwhile, Cal fans are ecstatic that Monty has them in position to win just the school’s second conference championship since 1960 and the Bears can’t even crack the top 25.

In the eyes of the nation, both Cal and Stanford basketball programs are irrelevant right now.

StanTheMan

Bowlsby needs to start calling around to see who’s available to coach next season. Yesterday was yet ANOTHER choke down the stretch, and yet again free throw shooting was the main culprit. Powell and Owens shoot a respectable 9-12, and the rest of the team is 2-10. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE SEEN THIS NOW? JOHNNY DAWKINS BRING IN A GD FREE THROW COACH!!!

lesliemedford

I have to say that two years ago I was complaining about the Dawkins’ free throw lack-of-focus and, other than one comment in support on this board, someone else accused me of “not knowing the game”, opining that free throw percentage doesn’t really matter. The subject went away excepting my several complaints in the issue: Poor FT shooting mean poor focus, poor fortitude, lack of intelligence.

I am glad to see so many complaining about it this year. Personally, I don’t watch or listen to the men’s BB games. I read the write-ups and box scores only. I decided two years ago to make no emotional (or time) investment in men’s BB until I saw good FT shooting and a reduction on the crunch-time collapses, neither of which has happened.

Since Landry left: no charisma, bad unis, poor performance. Time for Eric Reveno.

StanTheMan

@leslie – I would not call Eric Reveno. Portland is simply awful under him this season (6-21 and 84-102 overall).

Of note: Stanford is shooting 66% FT and 43% FG and has been right on that for all three of Dawkins’ seasons. Four of the top five teams in the conference are 70+ and 45+. On the FGs, there have been a lot of wide-open shots missed this year, and Bright and Brown stand out to me as the biggest culprits.

http://thewisdomcow.blogspot.com/ The Wisdom Cow

Wow, that was whack. I had the game “live” score for Stanfurd v. Oregon running in a separate window to the side of my browser, and it must have froze on 64-63, with no time showing, I had genuinely thought you guys had won. My apologies. I was not trying to slight.

Still, . . . , screw Nike. Wear Vibrams.

http://thewisdomcow.blogspot.com/ The Wisdom Cow

StanfurdMatt, it took a while before Monty was getting those results. He has just finished his first recruit’s career. He may not be around long enough to really get something built, but the game has changed, too (one and dones). Of course, to say both Cal and Stanfurd are irrelevant nationally is kinda wishful thinking on your part. Cal at least comes up on the radar and should be in the dance.

StanTheMan

@WC – learn to wait until it says “FINAL” not 0.0

I don’t think Monty would have taken the Stanford job had it been offered. But we definitely got his best years, and he’s just riding off into the sunset on the taxpayers’ dime.

Jim Harbaugh was at the Stanford game last night. Pity that Cal fans haven’t seen Holmoe, Mariucci, Gilbertson, or Snyder at any games. Maybe in a couple years you can invite Pete Elliott for a 55th reunion of your last Rose Bowl team?

StanfordMatt

As I’ve stated many times on this board, I’m not in favor of canning Dawkins. At least not yet. However, if and when the time does come to look for a new head coach, I would not recommend Reveno. I realize that he’s an alum but he has done of note in his 6 years at Portland St. Blaine Taylor, who was Monty’s top assistant from ’98-’01, has had great success against tough competition since taking over at Old Dominion in 2001. He would be a far more logical choice in my opinion.

milo

You Stanfurd lads forget that Bob Bowlsby won’t be hiring anyone from the Monty coaching tree. Why do you think he failed to resign Johnson and went with a Dukie? Because he thought he was getting an upgrade and could put his own stamp on the Furd AD.

My guess is Bowlsby shakes the mid-majors in the midwest to find your next coach…or he goes big. My guess is he goes small.

http://thewisdomcow.blogspot.com/ The Wisdom Cow

Stan, no BS, I actually refreshed it. There was not even a clock shown, which I why I presumed it final (I do think the spot where “final” usually sits, top center, was just the blank background color, so I should have further investigated), but c’mon, like I’m going to put that much extra effort into a Stanfurd game. Sorry, again.

StanTheMan

Np WC. Was just razzing ya a little bit

lesliemedford

Well, Reveno may not be the right choice in the end, but I don’t think his record at a small Roman Catholic school without national recruiting prestige tells his tale completely.

He started at center under Monty, he was born in Palo Alto, I imagine he understands the Monty way of building a competitive Stanford team, with a system built around muscle, work ethic and smarts.

Mephistopheles

While it is true that Cal is lacking the NCAA tournament success that Stanford had under Montgomery, only an idiot places more value on success in at max 6 game stretch at the end of the season over success over an 18 game period.

If you win your conference, you’ve met the only reasonable expectations that can be placed on a coach. Winning in the tourney is only gravy.

Mocking the fans of a team that is on the verge of winning 2 conference titles in 3 years because their team didn’t have NCAA tournament success is absurd.

StanfordMatt

Mephistopheles, we’re not talking about European soccer, we live in America. Rational or not, success in an abbreviated postseason tournament will always carry the day over regular season triumphs.

Just ask Shaka Smart who rode VCU’s Final 4 run all the way to the bank last year with a new contract despite the Rams’ fourth place finish in the CAA.

milo

Oh Stanfurd, so you wouldn’t trade Johnny Dawkin’s record at Furd for Monty’s at Cal? Not the Pac10 title and decent season this year?

Yeah I know you guys aren’t going to answer that question because you can’t have Monty back…BAhahahahahahahahaha.

Bob Bowlsby, Johnny D needs a $80k crapatorium and a 20 year extension!

Corty

Hey Wilner,

Pull your head out!!!! SCU made a commitment to men’s basketball 5 years ago. They fired their previous coach in order to pay Keating more and gave him a larger recruiting budget. I understand how your memory may be cloudy since you carried SCU’s water during that mess.

What you forget to mention is the numerous transfers from the program over the last 5 years. This has now left the program extremely young. Additionally, you didn’t mention that their first 5 losses (all by double digits) was with Foster.

What is most distressing, is the fact that WCC opponents are shooting over 50% in league play. This team has no idea defensively. That comes from coaching, Wilner!!!! This team is an embarrassment on D. They have no idea what help side or on ball D is. Anyone remotely knowledgeable about hoops knows that comes from coaching. I would even go as far as suggesting SCU’s scouting of opponents is a mess.

The losing streak is not from the suspension of guy who was shooting 38% from the field. By the way, I’ll bet he doesn’t come back next year

MostWanted

Benson applied for the Fiesta Bowl gig previously. Needless to say they saw through his “salesmanship”. The Fiesta Bowl obviously thought it was Benson who was the idiot and they were right.

Benson was compensated half a million bucks a year and the only thing he accomplished was building up his own alma mater.

Hawaii got to the Sugar Bowl without any help from Benson.

Now that Benson is gone the Presidents have the opportunity to build the WAC the way they want to and with all of the programs of the WAC in mind.

OT

Karl Benson’s first “meatball surgery” assignment for the Sun Belt is to…

…add Georgia State (from FCS) to replace 2 schools on their way out.

Georgia State has already paid a consultant for a study. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that study recommends Georgia State move up to FBS and join the Sun Belt.

Georgia State plays its home games in the Georgia Dome.

The Sun Belt will lose North Texas (which already one foot out the door) and Florida International (which also has one foot out the door) to “Mount USA”.

Lamar and Sam Houston State (also from FCS) would be potential targets for the Sun Belt, though they might prefer the WAC instead.

OT

@MostWanted:

And just what the remaining schools in the WAC would want to reload?

Montana?

Sacramento State?

UC Davis?

UC San Diego?

Portland State?

Lamar?

Sam Houston State?

Grand Canyon?

The WAC is TOAST as a football league as soon as “Mount USA” pulls the trigger to take the only school left that has any TV value: Texas-San Antonio.

Corty,
SCU lost some close games with Foster early on, but also beat Villanova, New Mexico, and almost Oklahoma. Losing Trasolini pre-season was devastating having already graduated Dowdell and Payne, so now they play an entire frontline w no experience, and when teams started focusing on Foster and Roquemore, they quickly became a young team in rebuilding phase, and say what you will about Foster, but the guy can flat out score, and when his selfish decisions resulted in his dismissal for the season, it is VERY easy to see why they are not losing.

But I could not agree with Wilner more about the lack of commitment to Athletics @ SCU, and this is no secret in the conference. Hiring Keating and paying him whatever they are paying him 5 years ago does not represent commitment to a program. The school offers less scholarships than any in the WCC, the budget is terrible, so the hotels, restaurants, other resources they get make it very challenging for them to attract kids without raising funds themselves by sport. Speak to the other head coaches @ SCU and you will understand. Keating acquired a very strong Division 3 basketball program w a big man (John Bryant) in the middle, he has definitely had a few surprising defections, but credit Keating to be able to get that calibur of talent to SCU, and when you let these kids compete for time, the unhappy ones sometimes make decisions. I would argue that James Rahon and Robert Smith’s careers have gone down since they left. Rahon might be on a winning SDSU team, but his minutes and numbers are still not close to what they were his freshman year @ SCU.

With Trasolini and Foster, this team is in the top half of the conference, and these younger guns are getting valuable minutes in the interim. Have you been to a game? Despite losing, these kids are smiling, working their tails off, appreciating the opportunity they have, talk to Few, Bennett or Rose and ask them how much they look forward to playing a Keating coached team, even this season.

I can appreciate you speaking as an opinionated person looking at a few facts, but if you dont have all the facts, dont make assumptions.

Santa Clara wd be nuts to let Keating go, the guy brings young fresh enthusiasm, the kids love playing for him, and he is probably the top recruiter in the WCC. You dont rebuild a program in the dumps overnight. Progress has been made. An injury and a drunk stalled that progress this season, I look forward to seeing how they grow over the next few…

Corty

BaHoops,

I suggest you reread my post. It is only factual and makes no assumptions, just a prediction about foster’s future

Here are some more facts for you.

Scu is in one of the worst teams in the country in ft differential. Not only do they give up 50+% in fg %, but they also allow fts at an astonishing rate. Lmu shot 35 of hem last night.

Maybe if their big men were taught how to defend properly, or they had any idea defensively on the ball they woudn’t be winless in league. Coaching!

Another fact

I gave up my season tickets 2 years ago. I got tired of watching scu compete against uc Merced, Houston baptist ( who we lost to w/foster), and bethany college. I got tired of watching coaches thank Kd for calling timeouts to break the momentum of scoring runs his own team was on. I got tired of watching the Harlem globetrotters weave from 26 feet away from the hoop in an effort to get foster the ball. What, can’t coach a big an how to set a screen? What would kk’s record be w/out all those cupcakes?

More facts

Scu just spent a ton of money for a giant flat screen that covers nearly the entire south wall of the gym. They also paid quite a bit to play in the cit tourney. Please don’t tell me there isn’t $.

Big wins?

I wish all u scu fans who keep circling the Villanova game as some sort of accomplishment. Villanova is in the bottom half of their conference. Scu only won that game because ‘nova’s bench lost track of how many fouls they had to give.

Scu was also beat by Ucsb by 33. They lost to washington st by 38. Both games w/ foster. Kinda negates that new mexico win huh?

Lastly

Grier at San Diego has a roster loaded w/ youth. He’s had to overcome his own scandal. Yet even w/ these obstacles has found a way to play close to 500 ball in league.